


devour thy soul

by WrookieOhOne



Category: Drag-On Dragoon | Drakengard
Genre: Alternate Branch, Cannibalism, Demons, Digital Devil Saga AU, Gen, The Flower's trying new things from around the multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 17:03:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3418619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrookieOhOne/pseuds/WrookieOhOne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Flower decided to try something new to speed up its goal. Sadly, this bit it in the ass.</p>
            </blockquote>





	devour thy soul

**Author's Note:**

> Aphrodite, Lamia, Athena, and Eris are from Greek mythology.   
> Anulap is from the Truk Island mythology.  
> Leviathan is the biblical representation of arrogance and greed.

_During our efforts to observe the ‘Zero Singularity’, we stumbled upon an irregularity during Zero’s escape from Cathedral City. The Flower utilised a power known as ‘Atma’, a brand that gave its bearer the ability to turn into a demon, with the price being the need to consume flesh to appease the demon and keep their sanity intact._

_The resultant branch led to the following recordings, salvaged before the Flower itself surprisingly abandoned its efforts and moved on._

_Begin playback._

_###_

For Five, the atma has meant overwhelming terror.

It was not like this before for her. Once she was confidant in her actions, assuring herself that she was making the right decisions and that she had the approval of her eldest sister.

She wishes she had that confidence now.

Her own body is slowly being overtaken by the demon. Despite choking down as much monster flesh as she possibly can to appease her, Aphrodite’s influence grows greater still. There are times where Five blacks out and awakens to find that the former goddess wrenched control of their shared body from her and proceeded to do…something…around the Shrine of Seas.

The ‘something’ is what has Five worried the most.

She rails against the intruder; her Song presses back against the demon with a power born of desperation and panic. It is a meaningless effort; Aphrodite’s own melody presses back and Five’s effort is stonewalled.

To Five’s horror, that same melody has the same proprieties as her own Song. It twists through the minds and dreams of her subjects, haunting whispers that leave echoes long after the music has faded. Aphrodite’s specialities are that of the ailments; and the ability to beguile both friend and foe alike is one of them.

The effect is felt through the Land of Seas. The citizens begin to build shrines to Aphrodite and leave offerings of orchids and roses on the altars. Five’s conquests praise the demon, not her, when their climax is reached. An entire bandit group marches into the Shrine of Seas and presents themselves to satisfy her hunger.

Not a single one was left alive at the end of the feast. The demon was pleased by the offering. Five just wanted to wash the blood and guts from her hair and beg to wake up from this nightmare.

Aphrodite is a creature of love, but that love is not necessarily returned on her end. ' _Love me,'_ she whispers through the dreams of men, ' _Love me and let me_ _consume you_.' She is not a creature of beauty as the legends claim. An illusion is cast and the demon appears as an even godlier Five to her subjects. In reality, her body is marred by thorns and bone-like claws; the tools of a cruel and twisted love and the times where Five is lucid and stuck in that form are the worst beyond doubt. Dito looks upon with something that almost looks like lust when she turns into her demon and it sickens and frightens her that her Disciple prefers her as a monster rather than herself.

Resistance means pain; pain like a million white-hot needles piercing her body. Aphrodite keeps singing, keeps pushing Five back every time the Intoner resists, and slowly she begins to falter. The demon coddles her when she does, softly whispering that Five makes her hurt her. ' _It is your fault'_ , the former goddess sighs as she uses her power to comfort Five after a particularly painful struggle. _'Stop resisting and it will all stop.'_

There comes a day when Aphrodite orders Five to transform and she does not resist. She orders her to devour a fresh offering of flesh, all the blood, all the gristle, and she does not resist. She orders Five to begin building an army to conquer the rest of One’s domain and she does not resist. Aphrodite is pleased and lets that joy be known; Five is allowed to indulge her own desires until Aphrodite has need of her and the Intoner is so _grateful_ to her demon for the release. She willingly follows the orders as they are given. The Intoner has come to fear her master’s whip, but has come to love its benevolence.

Her scouts report movement from the Land of Mountains. Lady Four is mobilising an army, they claim with stutters born of terror, and she marches on Aphrodite’s domain with the intent of making it hers. The demon’s response is swift; Five is commanded to create an army to defend their borders and lead a subsequent invasion of Four’s lands, followed by the rest of the world. She acquiesced to the demand and began preparations, revelling in the pleasure her patron sent into her soul. The whole world shall love Aphrodite and her greatness.

And Five will strike down all those who question that divinity.

_###_

For Four, the atma has meant a partnership.

At first, she loathed and feared the mark as it pulsated green-black on her palm like a living thing. Her demon roared and raged, infuriated that it was caged within such a _weak_ host, and Four’s own fury matched its own. How _dare_ the abomination think that of her!

She had full confidence in her elder sister, that One would be able to figure out how the Intoners could rid themselves of their marks and demons and the sickening need for flesh that never seemed to be truly quelled. But after a week of waiting for One’s plan, a week of tears and panic and desperation, they were all instead given orders to return to their domains, to continue bringing peace to the lands while One delved deeper into the mystery of the atmas and why the Intoners had been afflicted by them. And with a heart heavy with dread (' _and disappointment_ ,' the demon hissed), Four bade her sister’s words.

For a long while, it seemed as if everything was normal, apart from Leviathan’s demands for meat (' _the fresher the better'_ ). Four secured the Land of Mountains with her disciple by her side. She filled out reports, made arrangements for the monster-infested paths to be secured by her soldiers (' _dead within a week, I_ _say'_ ) and tended to the needs of her people _('but they’re not YOUR people, are they'_ ).

Then came the day of her first transformation. Decadus and she were fighting a group of trolls encroaching on the main trade route when a number of gigas lumbered out onto the battlefield. Though her disciple and she were strong enough to take on the monsters, they were also running low on energy from the first battle and the long trek to said battle.

Four herself had been separated from Decadus in the melee. She was exhausted by that point, and a half-dozen gigas still remained, ready to kill her. ' _Use me,'_ Leviathan rumbled as she clutched her chest and begged for breath. ' _Use me and they shall all perish._ '

She had no other choice. Demon or death, and Four had better things to do that day that die like a dog. With a scream she let the atma's power flow through her, and with a roar her body warped into Leviathan, tattered wings flaring and emerald flames exhaled as it charged its’ enemies. The gigas were routed by the viciousness of the demon, and when Leviathan relinquished control back to her, Four felt –

_Shock and awe and empowerment._

Eat, the demon rumbled, and we will grow stronger together. Decadus could only watch as his Intoner tore into the flesh of the fallen monsters, her expression something feral as blood slathered her chin, and worried at what the future would hold.

Slowly, the bond between Four and Leviathan strengthened. Leviathan was a creature of envy and arrogance, and it recognised a kindred spirit in the Intoner. Four relished the power Leviathan could give her, and happily paid the price of flesh if it meant the right to take up its form. Together they flew through the Land of Mountains, the wyverns enthralled to her Song following like a rear-guard.

Leviathan whispered in her dreams, speaking of how Four was far stronger than she was before, but also of how her talents and abilities were being wasted by One; a statement that once would have once shocked Four but now merely made her think.

Her demon was right. She was stuck in what could be best described as Midgard’s ass-end slaving away day after day for a sister that didn’t even take the time to acknowledge her or the work she committed to in her name. There hadn’t been a single communication since the Intoners went their separate ways and Four honestly thought that One had failed to find a cure for the atma and merely hid in shame.

Feh. Figures.

She was competent; why couldn’t she get a bigger slice of the proverbial pie? Surely she’d do a better job than, say, Three or gods forbid Five, right?

Four made her choice. She fired out orders like a general; soldiers were to be conscripted, more airships were to be constructed and arms and armour were forged. The Land of Seas would be their first target, and a terrible glee bubbled within at the thought of Five on her knees, broken and beaten and begging for Four’s mercy; a fitting punishment for all the torment the youngest sister had put her through. Leviathan crows in amusement and whips up the emotion into a frenzy, eagerly awaiting the call to arms.

When the army is ready, Four and Leviathan take to the skies, their airships and wyverns following behind whilst below them the army of Lady Four, greatest and most worthy of the Intoners, marches with Decadus at its head; all ready to spill blood on behalf of their Intoner. The Land of Seas looms in sight, an army of its own awaiting the invaders. In the distance Four can see Five cloaked in Aphrodite’s form, vines lashing like whips and teeth gnashing for blood, and shows her fangs in a mockery of a smile.

_‘What’s yours is mine, sister dear’._

And with a shriek that pierces the heavens, Four and Leviathan dive into the chaos below.

_###_

For Three, the atma has meant a wellspring of knowledge.

Anulap is not as demanding as the other demons her sisters must grapple with. He’s almost vaguely polite when he makes his hunger known; Three is informed and once he has had his fill, it goes back to being silent unless Three has a question.

And Three has lots of questions.

The questions that none of her books or scrolls can answer. The questions that Octa either cannot or will not answer. But Anulap can answer those questions and it enjoys having someone that can appreciate the amount of knowledge it can offer; magics so ancient that they are no longer recorded on the scrolls, in-depth knowledge of the biology of monsters and so much more.

Three has never been happier.

Her creatures were more powerful than ever thanks to Anulap. His magic and knowledge fused with her ideas and creativity lead to an endless realm of possibilities. Cerberuses that breathe flames as cold as ice, Imps that blend into their surroundings like chameleons, and Ogres with hides like well-forged armour. That was just the beginning of what they could do together and Intoner and demon chaffed at the bit to see what would happen next; she for the thrill of bringing greater creations into the world, he for the flesh of the ‘failures’, and both to sate their curiosity.

The Land of Forests quickly became a den of monsters so great that the people evacuated to the Land of Sands or Cathedral City itself, desperate to escape the rampaging and ravenous creatures. The soldiers in Three’s employ remained, brainwashed by a combination of Song and charm magic, and began capturing the refugees fleeing the war between the Lands of Seas and Mountains for their Intoner; those poor souls would become the food for Anulap, or more horrifically the fodder for Three’s experiments.

Octa watched in ever-mounting misery. His Lady continued her experiments, unheeding of his warnings and pleads as she twisted people into her creations, resplendent in her demon’s form. With a mind burdened by the twisted monstrosities he’d seen, he began to plot his Intoner’s demise.

Even if it killed him too.

Three did not notice his mutterings or sideways glances. Her next experiment (Test No 456: can Anulap’s magic fused with a number of corpses create either a large amount of undead or a giant undead behemoth?) demanded greater attention than the ramblings of an old man.

_###_

For Two, the atma has meant abject misery.

Lamia’s hunger is never satisfied; she screams for fresh blood and warm flesh every hour of the day and night. _‘Eat!’_ the roar reverberates through Two’s skull, _‘Eat and let me through!’_

Two has no choice. She eats flesh by the pound; monster or human, fresh or rotting, and hates every second of it. She eats until she can’t eat anymore, eats until she’s going to be sick, eats until she is sick and then eats again while crying.

Cent and her people are horrified by Lamia and her cruel whims. They all decide a course of action; to aid their Intoner until Lady One can cure both her sisters and herself of the atma. The Land of Sands is teeming with monsters; the perfect sustenance for Lady Two’s ‘guest’ and one that will hopefully keep Lamia content enough to spare their Lady some peace. Cent leads them into the dens, eyes blazing with the determination to save his Lady and his love. Ogres are felled, Imps are caged, and Trolls are brought whole to Two, whom eats them all until only the stark-white bones remain.

The children do their best to tend to Two, just as she has done for them. When she is ill from her frequent stomach aches, they bring her medicine to soothe the pain. They braid her hair with the flowers the eldest grows in the temple and freely give hugs when she has a breakdown over what she has to do to survive. Two loves and cherishes them all the more for it. But Lamia…. its hunger is never quelled.

Cent returns late one day. The hunt took longer than expected, but the meat has been brought to the Shrine of Sands and it will (hopefully) be enough to satisfy Lamia. The Shrine is quiet, quiet as a grave, and he feels like something horrible has happened here in the dark. With a run powered by terror, he bursts into the children’s playroom.

He finds Two covered in blood that is not her own and the remains of the children around her. She looks at him, and Cent stares back into an abyss of suffering and misery and knows that his Lady died with the children. He sat by her side and gently placed her form on his lap, and quietly awaited his own end.

And when Lamia arose again, this time unrestrained by her host, he did not scream, did not struggle as it lunged for him. The demon was now free, her tainted form permanent and terrible, and the Land of Sands knew a new terror as both monster and man fled across the dunes from the serpentine abomination slithering after them, maw gaping and teeth snapping like a shark.

It would remain the same until Lamia was felled thanks to the efforts of One in a battle that dyed the sand red from the blood and flesh in her gullet.

So ended the story of Lady Two and her family.

_###_

For One, the atma has meant a new approach.

The people of Cathedral City whisper to each other of the chaos unfolding outside their borders. The Land of Sands is haunted by a monster in the dunes, they say, and the Land of Seas and the Land of Mountains wage a war that threatens to tear them apart, with their respective Intoners looking to expand their own borders until they rule the lands, not Lady One.

Of the Land of Forests, there is little to be said, which makes it all the more frightening. As a whole, the citizens look to Lady One, leader of the Intoners and doubtlessly the only one capable of stopping the nightmares before they reach their city.

But One does not answer. She has not been seen since the brands marred her and her sisters.

In the depths of the cathedral, One reads and plans and makes adjustments accordingly. Her sisters’ bar Zero have all fallen to their demons; though the Flower (and hadn’t _that_ been a nightmarish surprise…) was currently quiet. They still had their Song, but the demons seemed to repel all outside influences except their own.

One couldn’t say if that relived her or not.

Athena hummed gently, taking in all the plans One was leaving behind for Cathedral in her absence. She emitted a strong sense of approval; they would guide the world well when One herself was gone.

Theirs was a partnership almost as strong as the one between Four and Leviathan. One still didn’t trust Athena as far as she could throw her, but the former deity continued to value the attributes she embodied and freely gave counsel to her host. Indeed, One would still be antagonising herself if she was truly making the right choice if not for her reassurance.

If the world was going to live, then the Intoners needed to die. The job couldn’t be entrusted to Zero _(‘and Eris’_ , Athena hisses in contempt) with so much in the balance, so the unenviable task fell in her hands.

With a groan, One pulled herself from her chair. The final preparations were in place now. All she needed was the pack of supplies she had left by the main door and it would be over, finished. Idly, she traced the stone of the wall as she walked. Athena ensured that her senses were now at a more manageable level, and she was actually grateful for that. At the very least, it meant less of a…burden…on her mind during these trying times.

She hated the fact that she had to kill her sisters. Even Zero, after a fashion. If it had merely been the Flower (though One herself couldn’t regard the cosmic horror as anything ‘mere’), then she might have allowed her wayward elder sister to carve a path through their sisters to her. No, she would have, if only to spare herself the pain that would come from such an act of betrayal. But One didn’t have that luxury anymore, not with Athena’s needling and her possessed sisters fighting over and devouring the world.

The time was now, Athena urged. If the world was to be saved, then they must take action!

And with a will tempered by both resolve and demon, One stepped out into the morning sunshine.

The Intoners had stood for peace once, and One would ensure they would once more. Even if that peace was brought by their deaths.

Time to get to work.

_###_

For Zero, the atma has meant her job is a helluva lot easier now.

Their hideout in the Land of Seas is still okay, still untouched. A few patrols that never came back here and there of course; Eris did so appreciate the fresh meat. The war’s raging on, but it’s background noise right now. Mikhail’s getting bigger; a few more days and they’ll attack Five’s flank. If they’re lucky enough they’ll catch her with her pants down (knowing Five this is a given in more ways than one). If not then they’ll just have to murder-brawl their way into the Shrine of Seas.

Shit, planning beyond ‘kill every last one of my sisters’ was goddamn hard.

An airy laugh resonated through her head and she bit back a curse. Eris just didn’t know when to fucking back off and leave her with her own thoughts.

Amusement flooded her. _‘Oh little Intoner, you are THE best entertainment!’_

“Shut up!”

“Zero?”

“What now!?”

“Uh…nothing!” Mikhail all but sprinted as far away from Zero as he could. He knew exactly how ill-tempered she was when Eris started acting up and he most certainly didn’t want to end up on her bad side (again).

Eris watched him go from Zero’s eyes. _'That one is amusing too.'_

“Shut it! What do you want now?”

_'Well…'_ Eris let her hunger be known. _'I need food, little Intoner. If we are to vanquish or enemies, then we both need to be at full strength to upstage little One and Athena, hmm?'_

Biting back another curse, Zero stepped off the porch and marched out towards the path. There’d be some unlucky sap out there, either Five’s looking to secure their border or Four’s looking to expand theirs. She’d eat, Eris would be satisfied, and they’d move in a week or less.

They’d kill the demons, make sure the Flower couldn’t come back, and after that… …well, Zero always intended to die again after her ‘sisters’ were dead.

Eris laughed again. Oh, this would be _fun!_

_###_

When the time is ripe, the Flower calls out to the Intoners. The atma has broken some of them, this it knows, and their minds will be so much more easily ensnared and far more malleable. But when it reaches out, it gets some unexpected resistance.

Aphrodite laughs in its face. _‘No’_ , she purrs in a dulcet tone. Five loves her, and only her. She will not give up such a _gracious_ host to some bottom-feeder, especially one that would only seek to consume what is rightfully hers. The world will be hers, and hers alone, whilst the Flower can watch and yearn to be something it cannot be; the gorgeous bloom, not the putrid weed. And with that stinging insult the Flower is rejected.

Leviathan roars in defiance. The insolence, the hubris the Flower has to intrude upon its domain! Four is bound to a new power now, and the personification of arrogance and greed refuses to bow down to such an insignificant pest. _‘Go back to your den,’_ it sneers, _‘and never intrude upon us ever again.’_

Anulap merely listens to the demand and promptly ignores it. There are far more pressing concerns to attend to (Experiment No: 5467: what will happen if Angolmois is injected into a gigas?) and the Flower is merely a particularly irritating visitor; one that will not come back if it is wise.

Lamia stretches in the sunlight, for once not in the middle of consuming a meal. It merely snorts and positions itself higher up on the dune. Two is gone now and only it remains, an outsider given a look into the Flower’s plan. The world is its to consume, and it will not waste time mincing words with one that will take that pleasure away.

Athena stands resolute against the frothing wrath. _‘You will fail,’_ she vows as she grips her spear and shield tighter. _‘You will fail and the world shall know peace from your machinations.’_ The Flower is left reeling, disappointment and rage and _confusion_ warring for supremacy and it turns to the one that is nothing and everything; Zero.

But Eris merely coyly smiles and refuses entry. The former goddess of chaos likes her host far too much to allow the Flower a foot in the door. Besides, Eris likes the world the way it is and since the Flower intends to enforce the ultimate harmony; that of death, and as a chaos goddess, to simply stand by and allow such a travesty to occur would be…neglectful yes?

And proverbial teeth gnashing, the Flower is cast out back into the abyss from where it came, knowing that its efforts to break its avatars were all in vain. It cursed the Intoners and their demons for defying it, cursed the spiritual virus that it had stumbled upon which led to this predicament, and above all else it cursed itself for being such a fool.

###

_After the Flower’s rejection, it terminated its operations in this branch. Even though it was not sealed away or otherwise destroyed by Zero, it chose to move on and retry its usual course of action. The world was safe from its influence in this branch._

_The same could not be said about the demons._

_The war between the Land of Seas and the Land of Mountains continued on with massive casualties on both sides until the intervention of Zero. With the aid of Eris, both Aphrodite and Leviathan were felled alongside their hosts, and the disciples Decadus and Dito were forced to join Zero on her quest to vanquish her remaining ‘kin’._

_Lamia continued to stalk the dunes and canyons of the Land of Sands, devouring all that caught her attention. She continued this trend until One and Athena vanquished her in a battle that lasted three days straight. The corpse was incinerated and the ashes scattered to the winds. Lamia would never haunt another soul in this world._

_Anulap and Three continued their tests and experiments, uncaring of the battles that surrounded their domain. The Land of Forests was infested with their creations, requiring an uneasy alliance between Zero and One to traverse the damned land. The battle against Three was fierce; both Zero and One were heavily wounded by the empowered Anulap and Decadus and Dito were both killed. Only the intervention of Octa, having waited in the shadows for his chance, meant victory that day. Striking his Intoner a grievous blow from behind, he gave Mikhail enough time to incinerate the two in a burst of dragon-fire._

_The wounded Zero and One were both killed at their behest by Mikhail. Aware that Athena and Eris would eventually take them over the same as their sisters, they ensured that the demon virus was eradicated along with the Flower’s influence. From continued observation, we have concluded that despite multiple branches that have numerous ‘outside’ irregularities, the demon virus has not spread further from this possibility._

_End recording._


End file.
